Unleashed Streams of Recollection
by Musicookie
Summary: Yuna tries to recover from her loss, becoming a sphere hunter. When YRP and some new friends uncover a plan of revenge, Yuna realizes she has to move on and step forward to save Spira once again.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE: DESERT ESCAPE**

"They're following us!" shrieked Rikku. "Napaj, drive!"

"Geez, you don't have to scream, I'm right here."

Napaj leapt to the machine's seat in the cockpit and took the controls. Rikku followed, and glanced pleadingly at the machina, silently willing it to deliver them safely out of the whole Guado mess.

"Come on, come on..." Napaj urged the vehicle to go faster.

Yuna and Paine held on for dear life in the storage room, dodging boxes and other flying objects. Even Paine was finding it hard to keep a cool head.

Rikku's kept jumping around, and her long hair was flying everywhere. Napaj squalled, "Hey brat, I can't see!"

The empty desert landscape was hurtling past them at a frightening speed. Rikku couldn't take it anymore. She forgot she was supposed to be mad at Napaj, and she hugged his waist from behind. "Man, I hate Guado," she whimpered in fear. Napaj nudged her with his elbow, "Get offa me, I'm trying to drive."

Napaj waited. "I said get OFF of me."

Looking back, he shoved her to the floor. Unfortunately, his eyes left the path ahead, and a sand dune approached too quickly to avoid. They ramped off the incline, careening wildly in the air. Upon landing, the vehicle rolled out of control.

`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'

Inside the back of the machina van, while screaming and being tossed around, a fleeting thought came to Yuna's mind. '_If you feed chocolate syrup to a cow, then shake the cow, you'll get a milkshake.' _

Paine was hit by a box, again, and her curses interrupted Yuna's thoughts. "What is going ON out there?!" Paine hollered.

`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'

Both Napaj and Rikku were tossed around the cockpit. Napaj prayed for the machine to come to a halt. It finally began losing momentum, and slid to a stop, upside down. Rikku was almost sobbing in relief, and Napaj groaned.

"Let's do a damage check and try to get it back on four wheels," he sighed.

Rikku, always looking for an argument with him, accused, "We were shaken around like riders in the chocobo rodeo, and all you can think about is the vehicle? What if Yunie and Paine got hurt back there, thanks to your driving, if you can even call it that! We need to see if they're all right!"

Napaj glowered. " Well, if you hadn't distracted me, I would have driven fine! And let's not forget who decided to steal from the Guado's camp in the first place, ahem."

"Hey, they've been on our case since before the eternal calm, don't blame me."

"Whatever. Get offa my legs, this lever in my stomach is really starting to hurt."

"Good. I'll be sure and take my time."

Once she got up, he gingerly lifted himself off of the rather pointy lever and looked around the cockpit. They were standing on the ceiling, and the floor was above them.

Rikku heard a distant door being opened behind them. "Hey Napaj, you hear something?"

He didn't answer her question. "Quit whining, you paranoid brat. The door to the outside is crushed a bit. Gimme your weapon. I'll get it open."

Glaring, she "gave" it to him. It embedded itself in the wall near his head.

"WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT!?!"

"Just shut up and open the door," she responded. He plucked the ninja claw from the wall and began working on the door.

Rikku looked over her shoulder. She couldn't shake that feeling of unease.

`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'

Yuna and Paine were buried beneath boxes and barrels. They were in too much pain to move, so they just stayed still and listened to the muffled tones of the argument in the next room.

"Some machine oil is leaking out of this box," Yuna said. "Wouldn't it be bad if a fire got started somehow?"

"Yes," a calm, masculine voice said from the doorway. "It would. It is always a pleasure, Lady Yuna. Too bad you have to die. _Fira_."

"You just had to say the worse-case scenario, Yuna," Paine mumbled to herself.

`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'

Napaj was trying to pry the cockpit entrance door open with one of Rikku's claw weapons.

Rikku peeked over his shoulder. "It's not working."

"Yes, I can see that," Napaj snapped. "Go try the other door."

Rikku turned around and froze.

Napaj grimaced. His hands were cut handling Rikku's weapon. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go check the door." Behind him, he heard the door to the back of the van creak. "Great, now we can leave through the exit back there," Napaj said, turning around. "And you can check the stor—"

At the doorway, a Guado was having difficulty fitting his head through the doorway. It was to be expected. After all, his hair was styled like three long, blue tree limbs pointing down. He managed, and squeezed the rest of his body into the cockpit. He stood to his full height and smirked down at them.

"Why so shocked? A pleasure, Lady Rikku, and Sir…Napaj, was it?" Seymour Guado said sweetly. "The storage area with the boxes caught fire somehow."

He stepped aside to let them see. Surely enough, to Rikku's horror, flames were through the window beyond.

"My, my, won't this be interesting." Seymour chuckled. He raised his clawed hand, sparks of lightning dancing around his long fingers.

"Oh, why'd it have to be lightning…" Rikku groaned.

Napaj quickly analyzed the situation with his swirly green eyes. Nhadala preferred Napaj to command risky digs because he was always alert. He kept his cool and naturally formulated plans on the spot. This was probably due to the fact that Napaj was once head of the "summoner liberating squad" operations. Those had been dangerous times for Al Bhed, and one had to be ready for anything.

Seymour toyed with them, truly enjoying having them at his mercy. He let off tiny bolts of harmless electricity all around them. Rikku squealed and hugged Napaj's waist again. He barely noticed. His mind was racing. The only thing he could think of was lightning's effect on machina.

'_Machina explodes when charged by lightning. How can we use this to our advantage? … I got it!'_

Napaj shook Rikku off and fell back on the machine-lined wall, acting like he stumbled in fear. As he put on a terrified face, his hands behind him felt some mechanized Al Bhed goggles.

Usually, these goggles were used to feed the wearer information during digs. Temperature, time, short text messages from the commander, things of that nature. They were irreplaceable tools during risky digs. Plus, they were some pretty cool looking eyewear.

Napaj had other plans for their use, however. He tucked their leather strap into the back of his pants and made a show of moving forward to shield Rikku.

'_Now,'_ Napaj thought._ 'The dangerous part.'_ Which was ironic. After all, their number one enemy stood before them, his eyes glittering with cruel delight.

'_Time to taunt the maniac out for revenge.'_

Napaj stepped forward and jeered, "You aren't even hitting me. Your derangement must be messing with your aim. Or do all slimy Guado have bad eyesight?" He continued on in this manner, the insults getting stronger with each gibe. Quite hazardous, but Napaj achieved what he had wanted; Seymour was ticked now. Napaj moved even closer, putting his fist on his hip in a defiant pose. He glared right in Seymour's eyes and spat at his feet.

The line was crossed.

With a second to dodge the lightning bolt he knew would come, he slipped the fist on his hip behind him, untucking the goggles. As they fell, Napaj leapt aside just before the deadly shaft of lightning hit where he had just stood. It hit the goggles instead, and before they even landed on the floor, they exploded.

Seymour was thrown back in the following blast, landing painfully on an instrument panel. He lay there, unmoving.

Napaj sat there, overwhelmed by the thought of how dangerous that just was. He had acted so quickly. Now that he had time to think, his thoughts paralyzed him.

'_Seymour's back and he's involved. Something bigger is going on here. But what?'_

He shuddered when he recalled the creepy feeling of being where intense electrical power was about to strike. Every hair on his body had stood on end. The sense of danger he had felt then (plus the metallic taste in his mouth) hadn't left yet.

Rikku's shouts drew him from his muddled mind, and he snapped back to. _'That's right, the fire!'_

Rikku was prying open the door, shrieking, "Yunie! Dr. P.!" Napaj followed grabbing a fire hose from the wall.

'_Let's hope this limp thing has extinguisher behind it,'_ he grimly thought as he turned it on. He began working on the flames, sweeping the jet of foam back and forth.

`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'

Inside, the heat was intense. The only good luck Yuna and Paine had was that those barrels that squashed them earlier had water inside. Al Bheds got thirsty in the searing heat of the desert. With the barrels, they managed to hold back the flames by saturating the areas the fire hadn't gotten to yet with water.

Paine heaved the last barrel over. The rest of the water spilled across the floor. Steam instantly surrounded them, mixing with the smoke to create a suffocating mist.

Tears ran down Tuna's face, drying before they reached her chin._ 'So this is how it ends…burned alive. Oh, Tidus…'_ She and Paine hugged as they retreated as far from the flames as they could.

A deafening hissing sound filled their ears. The steam was so thick now, it was painful to breathe. The mist began to fade as the hissing died down. No more could the roaring of flames be heard. Just silence.

The two squinted through the mist to see Rikku hopping towards them.

"Let's get out of here!" she called.

They all joined hands as Rikku and Napaj led the way over the rubble and through the steam. Slipping of blobs of extinguisher now and then, eventually they felt an exit and stepped outside.

Everyone blinked in the bright sunlight.

Napaj breathed heavily and laughed. "Ahhh…, the good ol' hot and dry desert. Well, let's leave before our vehicle's other passenger awakens and decides the day should have a chance for thunderstorms."

"How can you joke at a disasterrific time like this?!" Rikku demanded as they walked away.

After a short distance, their other Guado pursuers caught up, riding on dune-buggy like machina.

Napaj groaned. "Don't you Gullwings ever have a boring, uneventful day?"

"No," stated Paine as she and the other two got their battle on with the Guado.

Quickly, the gals incapacitated the Guado, relieving them of their machina vehicles. Rikku led the way as they rode off, soaring over the endless dunes.

Brother pinpointed their location after a while. He pulled the Celsius down low. Napaj was amazed at the ship. _'What a machina! The Gullwings drive that?! Maybe I should stick around…'_

Onboard, the Gullwings (plus one) cleaned up. The silent and stifling feeling of forboding pressed on all their minds when they gathered on the bridge.

Brother loudly broke the mood by demanding, "What happened?! I dropped you off with Nhadala, why did I have to pick you up on the other side of the desert?! Tell me!!"

Yuna sighed. "Brother, please calm down. Ancient machina from Zanarkand was found in the desert's southern region. We went to get it. Nhadala assigned Napaj to be our supervisor." She looked at Napaj.

"We took a hover to the site, and Rikku spotted a camp nearby. I thought it was another digging excavation, and I went to see them," Napaj said. "I got closer and saw it was a camp of Guado."

Brother stood up. "What!?"

"Yeah. Jerk-o came back and told us what he'd seen," Rikku said. "We all went to see, and there they were."

Napaj went on. "Rikku snuck around their camp. Turns out they wanted all the machina for something. She said she saw plans and blueprints."

"From what I could tell, they were planning giant drilling machines. Maybe for digging?"

"I told Rikku to investigate only. We'd have decided what to do after we got a bigger idea. But she decided to take action. Right in the center of 'em all, she took a piece from their biggest driller."

Rikku rummaged in her belt's pockets and produced what looked like a small bagel. It was made of metal and had a clear, blue lens in the center.

Shinra spoke up. "The material in the lens is blue crystal that grows in Macalania Woods. If fashioned correctly, this crystal has exceptional qualities to focus light or energy. It also has magic qualities. Crystal like this is often used to make up the core of mages' staffs. From the curve here, I can tell that focusing is what the guado had in mind when they made this. It seems they wish to merge the imprecise art of magic and the precise and factual world of mechanics. Sweet! I'd love to see the result of this." He continued examining it.

Rikku smiled. "I _thought_ it looked like something important. I was right! I made off with it and hid, waiting for a chance to leave. Once they realized it was missing, they searched. I picked a bad hiding place, cuz I was found."

"So she ran to one of their larger machina vehicles and stole it. Then she—"

"No, no, let ME tell it!!" Rikku must have liked recounting the story. "There were so many chasing me, and I raced to the vehicle. I started 'er up, and tore through the camp. I was running over tents and everything!" she laughed. "I picked up the other three where I knew they were hiding."

Paine smiled a tiny bit. "Once we heard all the commotion within the camp, we knew Rikku had been discovered. Not long after, she drove up. I peeled a frightened Guado off the windshield and we boarded."

"You could almost feel sorry for the poor guy," Yuna giggled.

Napaj didn't laugh. "Freak-ku blew it. They chased us. I could tell Rikku's driving would just get us killed, so I took the controls from her."

Rikku pouted. "Bossy meanie. I was doing fine, why'd you have to do that!?!"

"_I was running over tents and everything!"_ Napaj imitated in a prissy voice.

"Well, _I_ didn't ramp us off a sand dune."

"You distracted me! I'm not a doggie squeeze toy! You should have gotten off when I asked! Or better yet, you should have sat down and not touched me at all!"

"Oh, you liked it, I know you did."

"Wow, you're as vain as you are dense."

"WHAT?! Why don'cha say that to my sharp claws?"

Napaj ignored her. Rikku responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"We all couldn't fit in the cockpit, so Paine and I rode in the storage room," Yuna continued.

"On vehicles like that, riding in a place not meant for passengers is dangerous," Buddy said.

Paine crossed her arms. "We figured that much out."

They went on explaining. When they got to the part where Seymour came in, Brother furiously lapsed into Al Bhed. Only Yuna and Paine scratched their heads when the conversation carried on in Al Bhed.

Yuna always enjoyed listening to Al Bheds speak their language. It just sounded so different. Al Bhed were also just naturally spirited and full of boundless energy. She liked watching them in their excited moods.

Rikku, finally speaking in English, chirped, "Well, we know for sure that if Seymour's involved, it can't be anything good."

"Maybe we should look into it," said Shinra.

Brother twitched like he always did. "In a natural world, dead men stay dead. We'll find out why Seymour's still alive!"

Yuna began, "Well, I—"

"Yeah!" Rikku cheered.

Yuna thought,_ ' But I don't want to get involved…'_

Brother cheered, "Us Gullwings are gonna be so famous when we uncover the Guado's second scandal!" He and Rikku jumped up and down.

Shinra went to the computer, muttering something about starting research.

The group dispersed. Napaj took the chance of insuring his stay. He went to Yuna, who was looking a bit sad.

He didn't said, "Hey, now that I'm involved, 'ya think I can stick around?"

Yuna smiled a little. "Of course. But there's a price: Brother will make you clean the ship. He just loves cheap labor."

"That doesn't sound so bad. I won't mind."


	2. Chapter 2

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Quick author's note: Let me explain Napaj a little bit. He's not a self insertion, he's not in the game… I just made him up. His name is Japan spelled backwards (my little brother thought of that). The J at the end of his name is pronounced like the J in the word "rajah." Or like when you say the French word, "Fromage (which I think means cheese)." I decided to make him Gippal's younger brother. He's your typical Al Bhed male: spiky blond hair, swirly green eyes, tall, thin, mechanically inclined. Erm… His clothes are… Al Bhed-ish? I have no idea.

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**CHAPTER TWO:**

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Napaj found that he DID mind. He never thought Rikku and Brother could be so incredibly messy. He especially hated doing Brother's laundry.

First, he had to venture into Brother's room, with was a challenge in itself. So much stuff was strewn all over the room and floor that the junk usually blocked the door. And once inside, he was always walloped with the suffocating smell; the reek of Brother, his room, his belongings, and his cheap cologne mingled in a horrible way, never failing to bring stinging tears to Napaj's eyes.

He shuddered as he picked up the laundry, piece by piece, with some needle-nose pliers. No way he was touching that rancid stuff with his hands. He wondered if he should wear a protective mask and suit next time.

Napaj's eyes fell on a pair of those weird pants Brother wore. Something in the pocket had moved. Napaj didn't even want to know… He shuddered with nausea, hurrying to leave the room.

Rikku wouldn't let Napaj do her laundry. She claimed he'd fondle her undergarments the first chance he got. However, she did make him clean the bathrooms and all of the Celsius' floors and walls. He also had to clean the kitchen. This was a scary task, because Rikku liked to try her hand at cooking. Food splattered everywhere. Every time. Once, he even had to scrape marinara sauce from the _ceiling_. The ceiling. Was it even possible to be so messy?

Since then, he realized Rikku was purposely making messes for him to clean up. '_She wants me gone,'_ Napaj thought._ 'She wants me outta her life and offa her airship. That brat! I'll show her. I can take anything_ _she dishes out.'_

Except for Rikku, Napaj got along with all of the other Gullwings. Especially Yuna. Their friendly conversations they had, sitting at the Celsius' breakfast bar, led to the story of how Yuna and her guardians had rebelled against the Yevon-obsessed society. They had seen the reality of the lie that they had all lived and changed their goals. Not to defeat Sin for a little while, but to eradicate him, to end his existence forever.

Napaj found the firsthand story fasinating. Sure, the Al Bheds had left the doctrines of Yevon like Yuna had, but Yuna and her friends had gone further, actively fighting against Yevon's head himself. Rebelling against Maester Seymour Guado.

When the conversation reached Seymour, Yuna spoke with spirited anger. Never seeing her so fiery before, Napaj was quietly amused. So the High Summoner had a temper! He never would have guessed from looking at her.

"Seymour killed his own father! My guardians and I saw the sphere that showed Seymour's private glee and little confession to himself! He was supposed to be the righteous leader of Yevon! And that's another thing! He used Yevon to manipulate the masses and get them to do anything he said! Those innocent-minded people! He was trusted! Trusted by all different races and by his own people! He used them all, even the Guado. The very ones he shared blood with. He also tried to marry me to raise his own personal status and reputation! Can you believe him!?!"

'_So that's why she's so angry_,' thought Napaj. '_The marriage thing made it personal._'

Napaj said, "That's crazy."

Yuna wasn't done ranting. Color flushed to her cheeks and a fire was alive in her blue and green eyes.

"And he wouldn't stop there! He wanted all the power in the universe! He wanted to become Sin. He wanted to continue Spira's endless cycle of misery, suffering, and death. He wanted to become Sin so he could kill everybody! All for power! He wanted to _be Sin_!!" she repeated for emphasis.

"Sick-minded freak."

"And is was going to be married to him! I thank my aeons. It was their powers that helped me leave that… that monster." Yuna gave an angry sigh.

Napaj looked at Yuna a bit harder. He saw that talking about Seymour had put her in a furious mood. She was angry at the memory of Seymour. Well, not anymore. She was angry at Seymour himself now, since, for some reason, he was back from the dead.

"Yuna, how is he back anyway? It's impossible.

"It is possible…For one thing, he is definitely dead. He must be holding some powerful grudge or something, because his soul isn't at rest in the Farplane."

"Would sending him work?"

"I _did_ send him, right after me and my guardians beat him. …But, maybe he's like his father, Lord Jyscal. Jyscal was sent and everything, yet still managed to leave the farplane, twice."

"How did he manage to come back?

"He felt guilt so strong, his soul managed to materialize with pyreflies. He wanted justice for himself and his son."

"Nothing else can bring back a soul?"

"Summoner's magic might. But there aren't summoners anymore."

Napaj grinned and looked at her pointedly.

"I'm not even a summoner anymore. The temples have no power anymore. There are no aeons, no pilgrimages, and no Sin."

The speakers suddenly blared with Brother's voice. "Gullwings, du dra pnetka! Fa ryja vuiht y cbrana!"

Yuna looked at Napaj. "What did he say?"

"They've found a sphere. We gotta go to the bridge."

Yuna giggled. "You'd think I would have picked up some Al Bhed by now, seeing as I travel with four Al Bheds."

"Hey, don't forget about me!"

"Five Al Bheds."

Buy the time the two made it to the bridge, Brother was practically jumping with excitement.

"There's a sphere in Macalania woods!"

Buddy cut in. "Shinra just upgraded the sphere wave detector, and it found this sphere. The waves are different, though. Unlike anything we've ever seen before."

Paine's uninterested voice said, "Well, are we going or not?"

Brother and Buddy sat in their seats to fly the airship.

Yuna smiled excitedly at Napaj. "You're new, so this is how it works. All spheres are fair game!"

"Takers, keepers!" Rikku squealed. Yuna and Rikku hopped around.

Paine gestured at the two. "Here you see the proud Gullwings in action. No better than 5-year olds who've had too much sugar."

"Hey!"

"That's not true!"

Paine shrugged. Napaj smartly kept his mouth shut, but Rikku whapped the back of his head for good measure.

"What was that for?!"

"You were laughing on the inside! I could see it in your eyes, jerk!"

"I didn't know you made a habit of staring into my eyes. Like what you see?" He widened his swirly green eyes at her, staring.

"Ewww, heck no! Stop staring at me! I'm gonna have nightmares!"

And thus they passed their time until they reached Macalania. Which, thankfully for Napaj's patience, only took a few minutes. The speed of the Celsius was amazing.

The Celsius swung low over the edge of the woods, and YRP (plus one) jumped out.

"OW!" Rikku landed on Napaj.

"Get offa me, Freak-ku!"

Napaj stood up and looked at the forest. He was in awe.

Shining blue crystals crowded thickly on the ground under the trees. After looking a while longer, he realized that those towering structures weren't trees, but giant crystals.

A blue butterfly fluttered lazily past his head as they walked into the forest. It landed ahead of them, on the razor-sharp edge of a crystal. It gave the illusion of multiplying into more butterflies, as its image reflected off the shining faces of nearby crystals.

"Ysywehk… (amazing)" he breathed, utterly entranced.

Rikku scoffed, "You're such a newbie."

"Of course I am! I only came to the mainland for summoner-liberation missions. This is the first time I've really been out of Bikanel! What am I supposed to be, a seasoned veteran?"

"Well, closing your mouth would be a good start. You're gonna swallow a fly. … On second thought, keep it open," Rikku snickered.

Napaj sighed, exasperated. "What is your problem, you little brat? What did I ever do to you?"

Rikku pouted. "At breakfast this morning, you ate the last pancake."

"So that gives you free license to torture me or what?! I am so SICK of hearing your whiny voice."

"I hope that last pancake goes straight to your hips! Then you won't be able to fit into your pants anymore!"

"I hope you lose your shoe!"

Rikku gasped. "You did NOT just say that!"

"Did I? Oh yeah, I _did_."

Paine raised an eyebrow at Yuna. The look said, "Lose a shoe? What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

Yuna shrugged, which said, "I dunno." Actually, in the Al Bhed culture, to tell someone to 'lose a shoe' was a great insult. Walking in the desert, if an Al Bhed lost one or both shoes, their feet would be burned and sore from walking on the hot sand. They wouldn't be able to walk for weeks. Going into the desert without strong shoes was seen as the height of stupidity in the Al Bhed culture.

So basically, Napaj was calling her really stupid and wishing her pain and humiliation.

Napaj and Rikku were beginning to argue in Al Bhed. After about a minute, Yuna and Paine, without a word, turned and began to walk away. There was a sphere to find, after all.

"…Hey, where'd they go? Yunie? Paine?"

Napaj glared at Rikku. "Way to go, brat. Now look – they're gone."

"How is the my fault?"

"You always wanna argue with me."

"It's cuz you're such an idiot, I can't help it." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Call your brother. He'll tell us where they went."

"No." Rikku crossed her arms and began walking along the path.

Napaj fell into step beside her. "Why not?"

"He'll laugh at me. Big brothers are like that, you know."

Napaj most certainly knew. Being Gippal's younger brother, he knew fully well how older brothers were. While Gippal got to go to the mainland and work on machina, Napaj was stuck with digging duty. And when Napaj had finally got to be on a summoner-liberation mission, it was so unexciting that Napaj never signed up for one again, even though it offered a chance to see the mainland.

Gippal had his Machine Faction fame. "Gippal" was a household name, even. Girls flocked to him, attracted by his fame and personality. Laid back, always smooth, always calm. Serious when the situation called for it.

What did Napaj have? Supervision over a piece of sand. Sand in his socks. Hand-me-down machina. And now, he only had one girl nearby, and she wasn't even "flocking" to him, like girls did to Gippal.

Instead, the girl was ignoring him, walking aimlessly through the twisted paths of the crystal forest. Napaj had to keep close. The light was blue and dim, and reflections on the crystals gave the illusion that you were being followed by duplicates of yourself.

Napaj spoke up. "Hey, you've been here before. Don't you know where to go?"

"…Yes. If we turn around this corner, we should be at the spring."

It was a dead end. A thick wall made of clusters of crystals sparkled at them, teasing them with reflections of their own faces.

"Uh-huh. Looks like a spring to me."

"Shut up."

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Yuna and Paine were just as hopelessly lost. Over the radios, Brother kept telling them "It's North of you," when all that was North was an impassable wall of crystal. Later, when he said, "It's to the West," Yuna had almost stepped off a hidden cliff into a ravine. Paine then turned the radios off after telling Brother to shut up.

After walking a while, they heard a shout for help. Running towards the sound, they saw an old guado on the ground, about to be gored by a giant wasp.

With a quick potshot, the wasp fell to the ground, twitching, then disappearing in a flutter of pyreflies.

Yuna approached the old man on the ground, her kind heart winning over her dislike of Guado.

The man took her hand as she helped him up. His sad, wrinkled eyes met her multicolored ones.

"Lady Yuna, my dearest thanks."

"Tromell!" Yuna stumbled back in shock. She aimed her pistol at his head.

"Pull the trigger," Tromell said softly. "It's the least I deserve for serving a monster like Lord Seymour."

Yuna felt a lot of indecision. A summoner's duty was to protect life, not to kill.

"Last time I saw you, you ordered the Guado soldiers on me. You ordered them to kill me."

"Something I regret deeply."

With shaking hands, Yuna lowered her gun. She knew she could never shoot a person.

"What are you doing here, Tromell?"

"We were driven out," said Tromell, gravely. "The remnants of the Crusaders and the Ronso made sure not a single one of us was left in Guadosalam."

"I'm sorry to say I agree with them," said Paine.

Tromell lowered his head. "We Guado made things so difficult for you, Lady Yuna. I apologize on the behalf of my people. And I sincerely hope you can forgive me."

"Don't try anything like that ever again. I had my guardians before—they protected me. Now, I'm fully capable to take care of myself."

Tromell chuckled, surprising Yuna. "I can tell. My heart nearly stopped when you aimed your weapon at me. You have a fiery spirit in you. If I may be permitted to say, I think that was what attracted Lord Seymour to you."

Yuna glowered at the mention of his name.

"…Forgive me, Lady Yuna. I shouldn't have said anything about him."

Paine sensed that her friend was upset, and growled, "You know what I say, Yuna? I say we leave him here. He's bony, but he'll be a good enough meal for the monsters."

"No," Yuna said firmly. "Tromell, I have some questions for you."

Tromell said earnestly, "I will do all in my power to answer you questions to the best of my ability, Lady Yuna."

"OK." Yuna holstered her pistol, and poked the side of a nearby crystal. "Tell me about the magical properties of this crystal material…"

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Another A/N: Ahh, it feels nice to pick up on an old, un-updated story. Thanks to my two reviewers, Lovely Dork and Linkkinparkk, for getting me off my butt to continue this story. I made an outline of the entire story's main events, to encourage me further. I also changed the name to what it was originally: Unleashed Streams of Recollection, which I think is kind of poetic. While Napaj's name, as I explained at the beginning, has no meaning, the title does.

To my embarrassment, I reread the first chapter. From the descriptions, the escape vehicle seems to morph between a dune buggy, a van with a storage area, and something with a big cockpit that people can stand up in. I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote about the vehicle. I say now that you should picture it as a small, single level bus with off-road tires. You can stand in a small bus, and it's big enough to have a storage area.


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